Chapter 1
Knuckles white on the steering wheel, Shelby Diamond flicked her gaze to the rearview mirror as she turned into the hospital parking garage. The headlights behind her were gone, but instead of relief, a new rush of anxiety spiked her pulse.
Where had the car gone? Where would it be waiting for her next?
She circled the first couple floors, searching for a spot as close to the stairs as possible while checking the mirror every few seconds. When no other vehicles materialized, she forced her fingers open to get some blood flowing through them again. After one more time around, she found a space close enough on the fourth level.
She shot a nervous glance toward the elevator and stairwell. She didn’t like having to descend two floors to reach the skywalk across to the hospital, but at least in the stairwell she could run if she had to.
You’re being paranoid again. Everything is lit. It’ll be fine.
These days, paranoia was becoming a constant, exhausting companion.
She surveyed her surroundings after she parked and shut off the engine. There was an older couple down the row getting into a vehicle, and a woman with a kid just getting into the elevator.
See? Nothing to worry about.
Still…she debated calling Asher to see if anyone was in the room with him and Honor and ask someone to come meet her. Just as quickly, she discarded the idea. They’d want to know why. Because, although it was already dark at six p.m. in January, it wasn’t like she was visiting her brand new niece at one a.m. in the morning.
If she even gave a hint as to why she wanted an escort, the whole damn family would go into over-protective mode, and next thing she knew, Dad would have her moved back home under lock and key.
Well, maybe not quite that bad, but she’d had a hard enough time getting him and Mom to accept her moving to her own apartment last month, and she wasn’t about to lose her hard-fought independence. It was the one instance being the baby of the family really sucked—and twice as bad with her dad being a U.S. Senator who had to deal with death threats because of his political work.
Because of that, she had compromised with her parents by letting them pick out an upscale, gated apartment complex halfway between their house and the veterinary hospital where she’d been working for the past three months. These days, she would admit to being grateful for the extra security when she went home at night—or sometimes at six-thirty in the morning if she worked a double shift. But only to herself.
Gathering her purse and keys, she checked the garage again before getting out of her car. She manually pressed the lock button and shut the door, and an additional press of the key fob sounded the reassuring beep to confirm the vehicle was secure. A brisk power-walk carried her toward the stairwell door, her elevated breath visible in the winter air as she continuously scanned the open expanse of concrete around her.
She gripped the handle and leaned in with her shoulder while taking one final look to be sure no one had snuck up from behind before she pushed through.
The handle turned beneath her fingers and suddenly the door fell away from her shoulder. She stumbled inside, the top of her head colliding with something hard at the same time a pair of arms grabbed her. A shriek tore from her throat as momentum sent her and her attacker careening backward into the wall on the opposite side.
Their jarring halt came with a masculine grunt that jump-started her fight and flight instincts. She kicked and twisted, pounding her fists against the body holding her captive.
“Jesus Christ,” a rough voice cursed above her head.
She jerked her knee up into his groin and the man choked out a hoarse cry. He shoved her away and doubled over. The moment she regained her balance, she spun for the stairs as more curse words erupted from the man’s mouth.
Shelby froze on the top step as the voice penetrated her haze of panic.
It had been years since she’d last heard it, but she recognized that voice.
After risking a glance over her shoulder, she turned to stare in disbelief. “Dev?”
He squinted up from his bent over position, his expression tight and furious until he recognized her. Well, even then, his expression didn’t change much beyond a flicker of something dark in those stunning blue-green eyes of his. Probably disdain. Or contempt. Last time she’d seen Devante Torrez, he’d had plenty of both for her.
“What are you doing here?” The question came out all shocked and breathless seeing as her heart was still threatening to beat from her chest—though now it was for a completely different reason.
“Same as you, I imagine,” he growled, bracing his palms on his knees.
He’d come to see her brother’s baby? Before her?
“What the fuck was that all about?” He gave a short gesture toward the door.
“You scared me.”
“Me? I opened the fucking door and you barreled into me. I was trying to keep us both from falling down the stairs.”
“Well, I’m sorry,?